Patricias are everywhere

Aug 14, 2009

every time we turn around at this camp, they feed us. the prairies are a broadening experience I tell people we meet. I just hope I’ll fit into my dance clothes when I get back to the studio in September.

anyway, word is out around here that I’m doing this project. I sit down to eat with a bunch of strangers, and the guy sitting next to me turns to me and says he’s an ex-Patricia. rifle company circa 1990. and I should have guessed. there’s an intensity and focus that’s recognizable. a self-discipline. maybe in his mid-40’s, the guy has looked after himself. made a good life for himself. he’s down here playing the fiddle along with his partner who is a photographer as well.

sometimes dropping the “P” word opens doors and it always amazes me how many Patricias are out there and how they continue to identify as Patricias long after they’ve left the infantry. I’ve met Patricias in coffee lineups, in the middle of the Grasslands, at fiddle camp, at a seniors’ centre…

on another note, I found out my “deployment” dates. I look forward to it. I have no idea what it will bring, what my work will look like. probably won’t for months/years afterwards…

finally, the CBC radio2 was down at the camp for a few days. they’re doing a program on fiddle festivals and camps. they caught wind of me and took me aside for another interview. I read my Elegy for them. I’m not entirely pleased with it yet, it needs work, and most of all, it needs the correct colour of Afghanistan’s dust!!!

I’ll post a link as soon as it’s broadcasted.

from the lakes and woods of eastern Sask…

best,

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The page you're reading contains a single diary entry entitled Patricias are everywhere. It was posted here on August 14, 2009.